CHAPTER 902: CHAPTER 147 ONLY SENDING...

Why did that alien spaceship, Argon, come here in the first place?

It clearly didn’t come for humans. Argon’s history is far too ancient. It was already en route when the southern ancient apes appeared. Its creation clearly predates humanity. Unless its builders possess technology that transcends causal laws, this thing couldn’t possibly have come for humans.

However, every component inside Argon indicates that its builders have a technological level comparable to Earth’s, and it’s even less likely they have such advanced technology.

But it also wasn’t intended to communicate information about its own planet. The symbol system at Argon’s core wasn’t designed to be easily deciphered by aliens. It simply integrates considerations of noise resistance and information density.

In the 1970s, humans launched the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 space probes, which carried the famous "Pioneer golden plaque." On the top left corner of the plaque is an illustration of the hyperfine transition of a hydrogen atom because hydrogen is a ubiquitous substance in the Universe. Below this symbol is a short line representing "1" in binary. The hyperfine transition of a hydrogen atom, the electron’s spin-flip from up to down, indicates a wavelength (21 cm) and a time period (frequency of 1420 MHz), which are then used to calculate other symbol meanings on the plaque. There are 14 lines of binary-written numbers indicating the pulse periods of 14 pulsars (neutron stars) in the Milky Way. Since each pulsar’s pulse period changes over time, aliens can calculate the launch time of this spacecraft based on the pulse periods at that time. The line lengths represent those pulsars’ distances from the Sun. The symbols at the end of each line denote their Z coordinates, which are skewed against the galactic plane.

In addition, there is an image of a human male and a human female on it.

This set of information was also packed into the Voyager spacecraft and used as the cover of the Voyager golden record.

Although the amount of information is limited, at least it’s something aliens could see and likely interpret.

However, humans are at a loss when it comes to interpreting the symbols inside Argon.

David said without hesitation: "Let’s first build large spaceships."

"Uh-huh." Xiang Shan nodded: "And then?"

Yawgmoth raised his hand to ask: "Is there anything else?"

"There are many issues. This is a systematic grand project, my friend. It’s not just a scientific question." Xiang Shan shook his neck: "For example, is a spaceship like Argon suitable for immigration?"

David shook his head: "Obviously not. Its structural integrity is too low to endure acceleration and deceleration, and it risks being torn apart by gravity when passing massive celestial bodies — Gosh, just thinking about it, how lucky it is to not be torn apart by Jupiter and Saturn. Oh, and just leaving the Solar System takes a century."

"Then make the spaceship smaller..." Yawgmoth suggested. If they cannot produce a spaceship with sufficient shear strength to maintain its massive posture, they should make it smaller. But he quickly shook his head, dismissing his own idea: "It also can’t be too small, but it shouldn’t reach Argon’s level."

Every species has a minimum requirement for its "Gene Bank" or the genetic richness of its species. In biology, Adam and Eve are nonsense. Within one generation, the descendants of Adam and Eve would face the problem of inbreeding. The inbreeding coefficient between first-degree relatives is 1/4. That is to say, each pair of alleles has a 25% chance of being inherited from the same common ancestor of the parents. This would drastically increase the risk of autosomal recessive genetic diseases in their descendants, leading to collapse in a short time.

As for the exact number needed, humans haven’t fully researched it. Some believe it might require a few hundred people. Others think at least 160 are necessary. Of course, some scholars think extremely, stating a minimum of 98 people is enough — a healthy group of 98 could rebuild human civilization.

In fact, genetic research supports this theory. Some scholars propose that the total genetic diversity of humanity is not even comparable to that of a single family of chimpanzees. In a distant past, seemingly unreachable to humans but evolutionarily close to the present, humanity faced a natural disaster, leaving only a few hundred true Homo sapiens. Then these "seeds" of modern humans, with Homo sapiens’ impressive configuration, spread to every corner of Earth.

Xiang Shan sighed: "On the contrary, Yawgmoth. It’s not just a biological problem. Humans face accidental deaths. If your numbers are at the extreme limit, the accidental death of anyone in this group means the Gene Bank of the immigrant group loses a precious puzzle piece."

David nodded: "Space is no safer than Earth. Indeed, the human body is adapted to Earth’s gravity. Without centrifugal force to simulate gravity, human reproduction and growth would be impacted."

"Next is the problem of reproduction willingness. If accidental deaths are disregarded, every couple must have two children, and both children must safely grow up. Then, each child must marry and have two children with their partners to maintain the population. But how can anything be so secure? Accidental deaths remain unavoidable. Besides, not everyone still wants many offspring nowadays."

"In more extreme scenarios, if a poor fellow has poor relationships with the opposite sex, humanity would suffer a significant misfortune — another puzzle piece of the immigrant group’s Gene Bank would be permanently lost."

"Additionally, there are emotional discord issues after couples combine — unless mandated, banning free love and having everyone wait for a system-assigned spouse. But that would be too inhumane, causing risks of short-sighted self-artificial selection. So, you must prepare ten or a hundred times the minimum number of people."

"And to ensure the immigrant group doesn’t suffer mental issues on the ship, always thinking about killing each other for amusement, you need to provide them with ample activity space."

"Hibernation?" Yawgmoth asked.

David said: "Even the water bear, master of cryptobiosis, can’t guarantee it will fully recover after entering cryptobiosis. Given current technological levels, human hibernation is nonsense. Freezing hundreds might not revive one."

"Freezing sperm and eggs? If so, it would suffice if one survived among millions of sperm." Yawgmoth suggested: "Hibernate a batch of teachers... No, just let AI raise them? This way, the spaceship can be much smaller."

David shrugged: "An artificial womb is a technical challenge. Thus, would AI-raised children have any identity with human society? Wouldn’t they already count as another civilization?"

David sighed: "In the end, why are we designing immigrant fleets with humanity’s current technological levels? It’s impossible."

"How should I know," Xiang Shan sighed: "Imagine, if NASA discovers the sun showing signs of turning into a red giant, maybe tomorrow, maybe five hundred years later, this process would be sudden. Humans may lose their homeland at any moment. While researching group survival plans, humans must try everything to preserve their species’ genetic information with existing technology..."